Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Right - Here's my review of last nights gig. I wish a few others would do their reviews because it just seems to be me at the moment and I know that there are some people who get a bit 'peeved' reading them.... Just skip over it or ignore it.

Last nights gig was the last Christmas Party. Just like the review above, I set up the equipment and let the playlist do the music. As already said in a current thread which talks about unprofessionalism, at this venue we have a routine and it works well. Both the staff and myself are happy with how it all works.

Anyway, last nights gig had everything really. Let me just say though for starters - It ended up being very good but it could have gone the other way quite easily.

I was told beforehand by the staff that the company were pretty hardcore drinkers going on last years party. Also going on previous experience, he said that they were quite rude and unbeknown to me, after the party there was fisticuffs when some of them went into town so you can probably appreciate that I was a bit apprehensive with this lot. Now, I would not have nipped home to get changed etc if I hadn't of had full trust in the staff to monitor the equipment but I did and I had no worries at all. I wasn't gone long and was back on site well before they had finished their meals.

I was talking to a member of staff in reception whilst the guests were eating and I peered through the doors and saw a number of faces that I recognised so I thought I'd go in and say hello. I was firstly relieved to see that it wasn't a party of predominantly blokes but around 70% women. 2 Girls I knew got up from their table and came over and hugged me and put me at ease a bit.
I then went over and checked the levels on the mixer and upped the volume a bit as it was pretty quiet what with all the talking and singing along to the songs.

As I made my way towards the doors to go outside, a guy approached me and said "Are you the DJ?...When are we getting this Party started then?". I looked around and could see that some people were just finishing their main meals so I said "Shouldn't be long. It will be after the Desserts". He was quite drunk but said "Cool, Nice one!".
I nipped outside to the Smoking Area and saw a couple of others that I knew so went and had a chat with them. We were soon joined by a big guy who had real attitude. He stared at me first which made me feel uncomfortable and then said "Are you the DJ mate?"...I replied "Yes". He then said...."Do us a favour. Don't play any Christmas Songs. If you play any Christmas Songs I'll hit you hard". I laughed and said "Charming" and then thought I'd make an exit and let the staff member in charge what had happened.

When the Disco started, the lights went down and everyone cheered. I kept an eye on the bloke that threatened me most of the night and he was just sat in his chair around 10ft away from me, drinking and singing along. The dance floor was busy with the ladies strutting their stuff to the latest chart stuff etc when another guy came over and said "Come on mate, play something decent, this is ****!". He wanted some old skool funk and disco tunes (which he got in the end and loved).

The girls who I knew came over and asked for some 80's Classics and also told me that the guy who had threatened me was a bit of an idiot and that I shouldn't worry about him. I wasn't worried but I felt like I had to be on my guard all the time as I didn't know what was going to happen.
The dance floor was rocking now and I had an hour left. The 80's Classics were going down well and I kind of forgot all about Mr Aggressive....well, until I got a tap on the shoulder and I looked around and he was stood by the side of me.

"Remember, NO Christmas Songs or I'll smack you!" He said in my ear....He was grinning whilst he said it which made me feel 2ft tall. "Don't worry, I won't be playing any!" I replied...."You can jog on mate if you do!" He said and walked off. One of the girls dancing must have seen him talking to me and came over and asked me if everything was ok. I said it was fine but if he kept threatening me, I'd just stop the Disco and it would be his fault. I cringed as she marched straight over to his table and I could see her shouting at him. Within 5 minutes he was back by the side of me and said "I'm only having a laugh with you fella! Ignore me". He then walked off again.

All in all, it was an interesting night to say the least. I had a guy in his late 50's by the looks of it, come up to me and say "Can I have a nose at your equipment? I'm a DJ too". I let him have a look and he then went on to tell me that he runs a local Disco business too. I've heard of it. He asked me what I charged but I didn't divulge that information. I just said that it varies. He said that he had 2 DJ's out at the time that were working for him for £125.00 each. I said "Is that what you are paying them?" and he said "No, I'll get £75.00 from each and they'll have £50.00 each. Not bad is it?". I didn't comment. He looked like he was trying to be Elvis and was about 5ft tall. He asked for some Elvis so I played some and he loved it. He was bopping away on the dance floor.

So, we came to the end and I finished with 'One Step Beyond' which went down well. The organiser came over and got on the mic and thanked everyone for attending and also got everyone to thank me too which was nice. I looked over and Mr Aggressive was clapping and gave me the thumbs up. In my head I said " ".
I sat down with the staff before they started clearing up and had a well deserved pint which went down so well, I had another one.....Ok, a third and decided that I would leave my equipment set up as I am only 5 minutes walk away from the venue.

As I said, tonight I had everything and it didn't stop there. It was about 01.30am and I was around 2 minutes away from my house on my walk home. I had my I-Pod on listening to music and was in my own little world when I looked across the road and saw 2 chav type blokes with bottles of beer shouting in my direction. I couldn't hear what they were saying so carried on walking. I looked behind me for a split second and saw them making their way towards me so I thought I'd take my headphones off. I could hear what they were saying now and it wasn't nice. "Here we go again" I thought.....

And that's where I'll end this review.
I'm fine by the way

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I think you should turn this into a mini series Gary!

The adventures of Shakermaker....

[Shakermaker Promotions]

You know what Darren....I wasn't going to write the review because I didn't want it to turn into that. I do it as a way of remembering the gigs too.

[funkymook]

Took my new (well to me anyway) RCF 705's to my local to give them a proper test before using them for real. They were as cheap as chips from a Cash Converters (cosmetically looked great and a 60 day warranty - couldn't say no to them really).

The landlord is a big Ska, Northern Soul, Rockabilly, Indie etc fan so he's more than happy for me to play my usual sort of tunes (and being a live music pub we get a decent crowd who don't want chart or club music).

Great gig - started of with loads of Ska and NS for my friends who turned up early, then slowly added some decent 60's stuff (Small Faces, Spencer Davis, Who etc), then by 11 we had a packed pub and I was playing lots of Indie as well, apparently the whole town was dead apart from our pub - it stayed full until closing time at 1am.

The only dodgy request I had was someone asking for 10cc's Dreadlock Holiday in the middle of a Ska set - I pointed to a bunch of skanking skinheads and said 'if they say it's OK I'll play it' he took one look and decided not to (they were friends of mine, and no chance of problems if he had asked - they probably would've said yes!).

The 705's worked perfectly, so I was very pleased about that - but maybe a pair were a bit much for the pub - I had to turn them down when everything was shaking in the landlords flat above!

The bass of Ska and Reggae gave them a really good work out - White Stripes Seven Nation Army stood out as well. Couldn't get them to clip whatever I did (that's when the landlord had a word with me!)

Using my K12's as tops the system sounded really sweet - ran them full range going into the subs first with the 705's crossovers set at 100Hz.

I'm now wondering what adding an additional pair of 18" subs to my system would sound like!

[funkymook]

You know what Darren....I wasn't going to write the review because I didn't want it to turn into that. I do it as a way of remembering the gigs too.

I find the 'I had a good gig last night - The End' posts a bit lacking, I prefer a bit of detail and description.

[Corabar Steve]

Took my new (well to me anyway) RCF 705's to my local to give them a proper test before using them for real. They were as cheap as chips from a Cash Converters (cosmetically looked great and a 60 day warranty - couldn't say no to them really).

The landlord is a big Ska, Northern Soul, Rockabilly, Indie etc fan so he's more than happy for me to play my usual sort of tunes (and being a live music pub we get a decent crowd who don't want chart or club music).

Great gig - started of with loads of Ska and NS for my friends who turned up early, then slowly added some decent 60's stuff (Small Faces, Spencer Davis, Who etc), then by 11 we had a packed pub and I was playing lots of Indie as well, apparently the whole town was dead apart from our pub - it stayed full until closing time at 1am.

The only dodgy request I had was someone asking for 10cc's Dreadlock Holiday in the middle of a Ska set - I pointed to a bunch of skanking skinheads and said 'if they say it's OK I'll play it' he took one look and decided not to (they were friends of mine, and no chance of problems if he had asked - they probably would've said yes!).

The 705's worked perfectly, so I was very pleased about that - but maybe a pair were a bit much for the pub - I had to turn them down when everything was shaking in the landlords flat above!

The bass of Ska and Reggae gave them a really good work out - White Stripes Seven Nation Army stood out as well. Couldn't get them to clip whatever I did (that's when the landlord had a word with me!)

Using my K12's as tops the system sounded really sweet - ran them full range going into the subs first with the 705's crossovers set at 100Hz.

I'm now wondering what adding an additional pair of 18" subs to my system would sound like!

Wish I could've popped down.

[funkymook]

Wish I could've popped down.

I'll let you know when I'm there next.

Forgot to say earlier - request of the night was Devo - 'Whip It'.

[soundmaster mobile disco]

Last nights gig was my first gig on my own as a laptop dj with my new american audio vms4.1 midi controller.I have shared a night with alan but he has the vms4 running virtual dj,The vms4.1 has a more modern pro version of virtual dj so it was slightly different,but basically the same,ie drop and drag tracks.

No major hiccups apart from accidently pressing the sync button,this made the track speed up and sounf like mickey mouse,donald duck ect.I eventually figured it out how to get it back to normal.

the gig itself was at one of scotlands leading leisure spa hotels,it was a general friday night disco for all the guests,this could be a hit or miss you never know how many will come along.There was about 50 at one time.Come 11.15 it was buzzing with lots of younger ones,so it gave me a chance to get some modern dance tracks played plus play around with the various effects on the vms4.1.

[Excalibur]

Right, here's a tale of my night. Mid afternoon, I headed off to Kingston Upon Hull to assist young Twinspin at what turned out to be a Burns Night at a local TA barracks. Initially the snow was of no consequence, but by the time John and his Transport Manager and I arrived at the gig, it had become quite heavy. We made the decision to dispense with his trailer and bring the slightly reduced kit home in my van, so his Mum went home safe in the knowledge that she wouldn't have to turn out at 1am and drive a car and trailer through deep snow. We got the kit in and running, and I left to pick up a forum members Ebay prizes from close to where we were playing. What a journey!! It's an intersting run in suimmer, but in heavy snow it's grim! It didn't help that some in a posh Beemer or Merc stopped in the middle of the high street and threw it into reverse while I was behind him in full White Van Mode mode, ie Conservation Of Momentum. He nearly had a short wheelbase executive motor, and I nearly had to change my undergarments!

So, I arrive at the address, and pick up two road trunks. Trunks? I've seen smaller cars! No wonder the seller said I'd need a Transit or similar. I got 'em in and headed back to John. To cut it short, we were set up from before 7pm, and started to play music at 11pm. Hiighlight of the night was John being asked for Abba -Dancing Queen, and to dedicate it to the RSM. Only thing was, John didn't hear "RSM", over the RCF's and asked if it was for "Alice". Cue one young lady collapsing in paroxysms of laughter for about five minutes.

Loaded the gear into a van already half full of road trunks, and dropped it off at John's house. On the way home, I set off on autopilot, and headed home by what is normlly the best way, but in bad weather is often dicey. No worries until five miles from home, when I hit a stretch of apparently unploughed road. At the end of it, I met a plough heading onto it- With his blade in the air!

Apart from the last two miles down the lanes near home, it was a doddle

[djdave01]

did an 18th last night, had been told it was a 'family' event but there was about 50 teeneagers and just 4 adults. No problems though

all was going well until, for the first time ever, the laptop played up.

i was trying to load the next track, nothing happened. then i noticed that virtual dj appeared to be frozen. The music played on but i couldnt do anything to get the next song ready.

Switched to a cortex player to keep the music on and tried to restart the laptop. First time it wouldnt come back on at all. I left it a few minutes and tried again, it came on and went into a 'startup recovery' mode, which took 15 minutes to complete. It then reset again and it was fine. I opened virtual dj and played the rest of the night without any more problems.

No idea what caused it, im going to have a look into it later today.

I was panicking a bit, luckly the cortext saved the day